


Sketching A Better Stiles

by R_E_R6



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Werewolves, Artist Stiles, BAMF Laura Hale, F/F, Gen, Hale Family Feels, Hurt Stiles, M/M, More characters to come, Nerd Derek Hale, OOC Victoria Argent, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Young Cora Hale
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-09
Updated: 2015-07-25
Packaged: 2018-01-18 17:20:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1436488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/R_E_R6/pseuds/R_E_R6
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek had always been raised to be well mannered, to respect his elders, and to know that violence was never the answer. He told himself that that's why he detailed the entire incident to his family. He told himself that he was angry at the handsome boy for being a douche. He told himself hew as angry he was stuck with him as a project partner having heard that he'd still be allowed to participate in class. he told himself he was angry that the kid had gotten off so easily. He told himself he hated the Stilinski boy.</p><p>He blatantly ignored himself as he thought about how beautiful the troubled boy was. He ignored his own thoughts of intrigue and wonder about the Stilinski boy.</p><p>He hated the Stilinski boy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bad Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> Not Beta read, so please don't be shy about informing me of any mistakes.
> 
> Please tell me what you think. 
> 
> x

Stiles was slumped in his seat in economics, not paying any attention to what was being said by the teacher -knowing coach it probably wasn't relevant to economics anyway- as he zoned out to the sound of music whilst he focused fully on the sketch in front of him. Coach Finstock pays no attention to the boy blatantly ignoring his teachings; he was just happy that Stiles wasn't causing any problems like he usually was.

Stiles' face was a blank mask as he absentmindedly flicked dark lines of hair onto the head of the sleeping boy on the page. Stiles had mainly finished the drawing five minutes prior but continued to go over it added fine details, out of boredom if nothing else. It wasn't like he needed to have the image perfect, he already had enough sketches of Scott lying around their house between Scott's room and his own. 

It was the moment that the bell rang that Stiles wished he could freeze time in order to have time to fully capture Scott's startled expression as he jumped in his seat at the sound. Stiles hid his amusement, instead scowling at Isaac Lahey when he giggled as Scott's expense. Scott's weary eyes swept the room until they caught Stiles' and the boy sent him a tired smiles holding his arm out for Stiles to pull him up.

 

"You look peaceful when you sleep" Stiles softly smiled at his step-brother as he handed over the paper "Carefree, and happy"

Scott took the paper from Stiles and grinned down at the page. He opened his mouth the express his awe at the sketch when Stiles shrugged off whatever inner thoughts he was having and turned away from the boy to make his way to his next class. 

 

Scott yearned to reach out for the slightly older boy, reach right into his soul and grip the talkative, sarcastic, free-spirited best-friend that once possessed the vessel walking away from him. Before Stiles' mum had been taken from them he'd been all those things and much more. He had always been happy, he'd always been the open one, the one that urged Scott to get out there and try new things. Stiles got him to try out for lacrosse, Stiles got him to talk to his first girlfriend for the first time, and the second, and the third. It wasn't until that one night that Stiles' spirit crawled into the depths of his being and shrunk until all traces of the boy he used to be were concealed with blank stares and dry comments. His sarcasm turned to monotonous venom; whereas he'd usually brush off insults with clever comebacks, he now spat out harsh slurs, throwing punches along with them when he was especially riled up. That happened more and more often too, Stiles getting riled up, until eventually he just avoided everyone but Scott. He barely even spoke to their parents anymore, Scott could tell that they brought the memories back any time they tried to intervene and give him their carefully constructed words, meant to comfort him and coax him into becoming more like his old self.

Only Scott seemed to understand that talking about it, talking about any feelings, whether related to that night or not, all brought forward more negativity and more bad memories. That's why Stiles didn't push Scott away like he did others. Stiles was grateful that his friend -his brother- understood. He was glad he could count  on someone to keep him from delving so far into his inner thoughts that he caved in. Most of all he was glad Scott understood why Stiles put so much effort into drawing and despite how much he rejected the kind words, he was glad that Scott persisted when it came to telling Stiles how good his drawing were. It hurt to think about the drawings, what drawing meant, but he was glad Scott gave him the confidence to carry on and hold onto something positive.

 

Scott wasn't in Stiles' next lesson, creative writing. Scott was never into writing, but Stiles used to be; although now he regretted ever thinking it was a good idea to ever set foot in the class. In fact it was a rare occasion that he showed up to the class at all, he couldn't remember the last time he did. He had that day though, and I guess that's where you can say the story started.

"Ah, Mr Stilinski, glad you could join us for once" Mrs Argent droned.

Derek Hale looked up from his friends at the mention of the name. His eyes locked with the glassy brown ones of the elusive Stilinski boy. Stiles Stilinski was often the talk of the school and Derek had heard enough to know he was talked about, however never listened enough to take note of what was said and had never met the boy for himself in the last year he had been living in Beacon Hills. Looking at him now though Derek could see why he was talked about. The vibes radiating off of the boy were toxic. He seemed to ooze disdain and anger, his whole demeanor was filled with hostility and his gaze penetrated the skin on Derek's face, heating every cell of his being under the seemingly ever-present glare the boy so easily exerted.

Overall the boy just looked like trouble. Feeling claustrophobic under the boys cold stare, Derek looked away, turning back to Erica and Boyd who occupied the seat next to him and the one in front of it. 

"Well that makes things easier, now that we have an even class we don't need a three for the project we will be beginning today" Derek heard a groan from behind him following the teacher's words and immediately stiffened at the sound.

Derek had been too distracted by the boy behind him to take in what Mrs. Argent had said. It took him a few seconds to put the pieces together and realize either he, Boyd or Erica would have to work with the blank faces Stilinski boy. He had to refrain from dropping his head to his desk as Mrs Argent asked him "Derek, I know you usually work with your friends, but would you mind working with Mr Stilinski for this project? He is a bit behind due to his absences and I think you'd be good for him to work with"

 _Yeah, so I can do all the work and get the delinquent a pass he doesn't deserve, in a class he's just now attending for the first time that year._ he wanted so badly to utter the words and deny his teacher's request, but it just wasn't in his nature. Curse his mother's insistence on her children being well-mannered. Instead the boy just reluctantly nodded and turned slightly to see Mrs Argent trying to get the Stilinski boy's attention away from his notepad so she could tell him what he needed to know.

 

 

Derek never got to formally meet his partner that lesson.

 

Stiles was immersed in a sketch of Erica Reyes and Vernon Boyd, capturing in pencil the moment they shared as they sat across from eachother, smiling widely as they spoke. He was too distracted to notice Mrs Argents' attempts at communication over his music. He was mostly finished the rough outline shapes for the sketch when the pad was pulled from beneath his hands. His pencil dug into the paper as he tried to hold it in place, and angry black line sliced across the page. Stiles panicked as he thought about losing his sketches. From sketches of Scott, to sketches of random people and places, but most of all his chest constricted at the thought of losing the images at the very back, where he himself rarely looked. The panic welled up inside Stiles, coating his limbs and consuming his air until his breaths became harsh, but instead of panicking any longer his panic turned to anger. Stiles gritted his teeth and seethed at the older red headed woman in front of him before lashing out and knocking over two desks in a row. 

"Give me that back, now!" he yelled, venom blanketing his words as he hit another desk and glared at the woman in front of him. At her shocked delay Stiles became more angered and surged forwards, one arm propelling her backwards and away from his book whilst he used the other to rip the book from her grasp and fling it behind his back, his arm going with it in a flail of motion, his grip on the book deathly tight as he watched the woman stumble back before catching her balance on her desk.

Mrs Argent was too shocked to say anything but she didn't need to. The commotion had attracted the attention of two other teachers from neighboring classrooms and Finstock took Stiles to the principal. Mrs Argent joined them a few minutes later and Stiles zoned out, he didn't care what happened to him so long as his sketches were safe in his hands.

 

Stiles wasn't suspended. He wasn't even kicked out of Mrs Argents class. The principal -who happened to be Mrs Argents husband- had decided to listen to his wife's advice and do nothing as she explained what she had done and how she should have known it would provoke him. Hearing her stick up for him after what he did almost made him feel bad for what he'd done but he couldn't bring himself to regret his actions. He did, however, develop a new respect for Mrs Argent. She had at least tried to understand him. 

That wasn't quite the case for his dad and Stiles found himself under house arrest for the next month for his 'displays of violence'. Melissa gave him a sympathetic smile souring his mood further. He wouldn't talk to anyone but Scott for the rest of the night after it was dealt with. Scott agreed that the Sheriff was being too harsh when even the woman's husband hadn't seen a good enough reason to punish him for his actions.

* * *

 

Derek had always been raised to be well-mannered, to respect his elders, and to know that violence was never the answer. He told himself that that's why he detailed the entire incident to his family. He told himself that he was angry at the handsome boy for being a douche. He told himself he was angry he was stuck with him as a project partner, having heard that he'd still be allowed to participate in class. he told himself he was angry that the kid had gotten off so easily. He told himself he hated the Stilinski boy.

He blatantly ignored himself as he thought about how beautiful the troubled boy was. He ignored his own thoughts of intrigue and wonder about the Stilinski boy.

**He hated the Stilinski boy.**

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Much to Derek's displeasure, Stiles does continue coming to class

It wasn't until lunch the next day that Derek saw Stiles Stilinski again. The other teen was sitting at a table with Scott McCall and his girlfriend Allison outside, the couple were talking and eating whilst Stiles halfheartedly ate a sandwich with one hand as he sat sketching, looking up at then every once in a while as if to check they are still there.

"Are you going to go and talk to Stilinski about your project? might as well get it started and over with" Erica suggested from her place beside him on the grass; the weather was unusually hot and so most of the students were spread out along the grass or on the lacrosse field to eat lunch. Derek turned his head to face his friends as Isaac came over and joined there group, shaking his head.

"No, he'd just ignore me any way and I'm hoping he stops showing up to class after yesterday"

"You talking about Stilinski?" At Isaac's question Derek nodded and proceeded to explain the situation with the project "Man, good luck with that, I swear I chuckled at something his step brother did yesterday in econ, and if looks could kill I'd be a dead man. You're going to have a hard time getting close enough to get him to cooperate on a school project, you might as well just start it yourself"

Derek hunched his shoulders in annoyance as Isaac confirmed what Derek had already been thinking, knowing his luck Stiles would come to class out of spite for Mrs Argent and Derek wouldn't get to join Erica and Boyd for the project like he hoped. 

Boyd, noticing Derek's frustration, swiftly changed the subject and left Derek to his own thoughts, staring at the helm of his t-shirt blowing in the wind as it hung off of his body. In his logical mind Derek knew he had to at least make an effort and try to communicate with Stiles and this thought made him cringe. The last thing Derek wanted was to make nice with the school's resident trouble maker.

Throughout the rest of the lunch period Derek zoned in and out of conversation with his friends, trying to think positively about approaching Stiles about the project but without much progress. When the bell rung signalling the end of lunch Derek was still dreading going to creative writing, not wanting to deal with his, no doubt insufferable, project partner.

 

Sitting in class Derek had almost breathed a sigh of relief as Mrs Argent began the class, explaining what was missed yesterday in her unexpected absence, and Stiles was still not there. Erica shot him an encouraging smile as she too noticed the distinct lack of icy teenaged boy in the seat where Stiles had been sitting yesterday. Derek allowed himself to relax in his seat until Erica's smile dropped and Stiles walked in to take the seat behind Derek. 

Derek couldn't help but curse the universe as the sound of pencils scraping across sketch paper started up behind him, Mrs Argent carrying on as if the boy hadn't just shown up late to class without explanation further fuelled his annoyance.

Behind Derek Stiles sat with his earphones hanging from one ear, music playing softly as he tried to pay attention to what Mrs Argent was saying as well as paying close attention to her facial features as she smiled. Stiles had no doubt that this project was the red headed teachers favourite part of the year as was typical every year with the whole English department at BHHS. This thought caused the teenager to feel a slight pang in his chest and made him want to make a hasty escape but instead he focused his thoughts on the soft stroke of his pencil and careful shading.

Stiles's tongue was poked out slightly in concentration as Mrs Argent finished her explanation of the project, trying to focus on making the whisky spikes of her hair look natural on the page when a throat cleared from in front of him. Stiles looked up, startled, and bit his tongue as he saw Derek Hale liking at him both expectantly and in annoyance. Ignoring the slight twine out pain in his mouth Stiles raised his eyebrows impatiently, careful not to show his awed surprise that the other boy was paying him any notice.

Stiles had noticed Derek Hale when the other boy had first started attending Beacon Hills High as unlike the rest of their classmates he had shown no interest in Stiles life. Stiles was willing to admit that this intrigued him and he had often found himself watching Derek in the halls as he spoke to his friends, waiting for the inevitable moment that the judgemental stares would begin; however as the year had progressed Stiles had grown even more curious as he noticed Derek was surprisingly impassive to a lot of things, clearly preferring to stay out of the limelight as he remained in the shadows with his two friends. Stiles told himself that it was his curiosity that meant he found himself watching the boy more often even as it became clear that he was unlikely to join in the gossip about him. Partly though, Stiles had wondered why someone so obviously attractive shied away from attention as if he was worried about being noticed, finding it ridiculous that someone so seemingly happy and carefree would reject social interaction as so many girls had clearly shown an interest in getting to know him. Plus, he wasn't exactly hard on the eyes and so Stiles often found his mind wandering to his face, wondering how well he could recreate his image with only a pencil but he never dared to try as he pushed the thoughts away from his mind; it was ridiculous and stalkers is what he had told himself and soon he had forced himself to stop looking at Derek until the other boy had blurred into the shapeless background of the rest of the student body. 

Right now though the boys face was unavoidable as he continued to look at Stiles, his expression growing more and more frustrated. Stiles eventually grew annoyed as the staring urged his mind to linger on the subtle changes to Derek's features and ground out a frustrated "What?"

"I asked you a question"  
At this Stiles was shocked, he hadn't expected such a direct statement in such a tone as the one Derek was using. Briefly Stiles entertained the thought that he sounded like he was milliseconds away from trying to start a fight, something he definitely didn't expect to hear in the voice of the introverted boy in front of him. Stiles couldn't help but smirk, even now Derek looked cute as his eyebrows scrunched and his mouth settled into a, most likely unintended, pout. Stiles couldn't help but want to push his buttons more, deciding to go ahead with this idea as his mind began stirring up thoughts of other ways he could cause more pleasant expressions to appear on Derek's face. The thought of it was ridiculous, he shouldn't even be considering entertaining these thoughts and so he chose to reply in the manner which people had come to expect of him.

"Well clearly I wasn't paying attention so you could've saved yourself a lot of time and pouting if you'd just asked again, really all you're doiNguyen with all this staring in winding yourself up"

Stiles saw Derek's first clench as he breathed in deeply through his nose and couldn't help the twitch of his lips at seeing the dark haired boy so wound up. Unfortunately Mrs Argent code that moment to walk over and check on the pair.

"how's everything going over here? did you two decide on any ideas for your project yet?"

At this Derek groaned again "I'm trying but he apparently doesn't know how to have a conversation" whilst Stiles stared at her in confusion.

"What do you mean our project?" Stiles voiced his confusion as Mrs Argent turned to him. The woman just sighed as she explained "Derek is your partner for the project, he agreed to be your partner as everyone was partnered up and he and his friends were in as group of three, you would know this if you were listening yesterday"

"Since when is this project done in pairs, it's always an individual project"At Stiles' confusion Mrs Argent's shoulders slumped slightly and he gaze softened in realisation "The department changed it last year, we thought it would be best as a paired project because it encourages combining different ideas and writing styles" 

Stiles replied with only an understanding "oh"

Mrs Argent sent him a small understanding smile "This is why you should listen in class Mr Stilinski, you don't know everything all the time"

Stiles replied with a small smile grateful as he recognised her as the only teacher who doesn't treat him differently from before. With a small eye roll she turned so she was facing both hI'm and Derek "Okay, now that Mr Stilinski is caught up I expect both of you to work together well meaning no hostile behaviour, and yes Mr Hale that means you too. You two will need to communicate in order to write a good short story."

With that she turned and walked away. Derek followed her with his eyes as she walked a way, a look of disbelief crossing his face at her insinuation that he was the one being hostile, before looking back at Stiles. Stiles took in his annoyed expression with a sigh but as he caught Mrs Argent's expectant look over Derek's shoulders he squared his shoulders and looked Derek straight in the eye before writing down his address on a page of his previously unopened notebook before ripping it out and handing it to a confused Derek.

"Come by after five"

Leaving no room for negotiation Stiles tore his gaze from Derek's and returned to his sketch. Derek sat confused and anxious the rest of the lesson, dreading the project ahead, for the rest of the lesson until the bell rang and Derek was coaxed out of his thoughts by an impatient Erica. As Derek packed his things and left he watched as Stiles dropped the sketch he had been working on on the teacher's desk with a shrug at the woman's pleasantly baffled smile.

Derek's confusion only grew as he made his way to his last period.


End file.
